Petropoulos_(ed)-Greek_Magic._Ancient,_Medieval_and_Modern_BB-Routledge(2008).pdf

GREEK MAGIC

Magic has always been a widespread phenomenon in Greek society, starting

from Homer’s Circe (the rst ‘evil witch’ in Western history) and extending to

the pervasive belief in the ‘evil eye’ in twenty- rst-century Greece. Indeed,

magic is probably the most ancient and durable among social and religious phe-

nomena known to classical and other scholars, and it can be traced over a span

of some three millennia in sources in the Greek language as well as in an impres-

sive range of visual and other media. ese include curse tablets from fourth-

century bce Athens, the medico-magical gems of late antiquity, early Christian

amulets, and various exorcism prayers from the medieval and later periods.

Organized chronologically, the intriguing panorama o ered by this book

guides the reader through the ancient, medieval, modern and even contempo-

rary periods, highlighting the traditions, ideologies and methods of magic in

each period of Greek history. It brings together the latest insights from a range

of experts from various disciplines: classicists, art historians, archaeologists,

legal historians and social anthropologists among others.

J.C.B. Petropoulos is Associate Professor of Ancient Greek Literature at the

Democritean University of race and Chairman of the Board of Harvard

University’s Center for Hellenic Studies in Nafplio. He specializes in Greek

poetry and is generally concerned with social-anthropological issues relevant

to ancient Greek literature and society. He also has an interest in the recep-

tion of ancient Greek sub-literary and ‘popular’ song tradition beyond antiq-

uity in the Greek-speaking world.

GREEK MAGIC

Ancient, Medieval and Modern

Edited by J.C.B. Petropoulos